


as fate would have it

by bytheseas



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-17 01:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14177736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bytheseas/pseuds/bytheseas
Summary: There’s coffee in one of David’s hands, and a bag of fabric in the other, and he’s rushing down the hallway because he’s running late, and he might not make it, but there’s a hand that holds the door for him so he can slip in, just in time.He knows who it is before he even sees their face.(A David/Patrick neighbors au)





	as fate would have it

There’s  coffee in one of David’s hands, and a bag of fabric in the other, and he’s rushing down the hallway because he’s running late, and he might not make it, but there’s a hand that holds the door for him so he can slip in, just in time.

 

He knows who it is before he even sees their face.

 

David knows three things about Patrick: he knows his name, his job (accountant), and he knows that they have the same morning schedule, because somehow this morning meeting between the two of them has been almost a daily occurrence.

  
David knows one thing about himself when it comes to Patrick:  that jolt of attraction that he felt when he saw him for the first time hasn’t ever gone away, like he had kind of assumed it would.  

 

It’s a problem.

 

“Hey, thanks,” David says breathlessly, as he drops his bag to the ground and checks his watch.  He’ll make it just in time.

 

“Sure thing.”  Patrick replies with a smile.  

 

This is where they live in these fleeting moments between floors: in hello’s and surface comments and basic politeness.  

 

Sometimes, he thinks about doing something to shake up their little routine -- Patrick would look at him sometimes like something was on the tip of his tongue, or he’d push the right elevator button for David without even asking, because he just knew it, or he’d hold the door for longer than necessary as David made his way down the hall, and David would think: maybe there could be more to this.  But something always stopped him.

 

He had also dropped his coffee the first day they met on the elevator, directly onto Patrick’s shoes, and he’s pretty sure that was the worst kind of first impression.  No one wants to date someone who’s ruined their leather shoes. It’s a fact. He was also pretty sure Patrick had a girlfriend, anyway.  Sometimes he would see him in the elevator with a red-head sometime towards the evening, and they were usually arguing in hushed whispers.

 

When it all came down to it, making any kind of move would be a risk, and David wasn’t one for risks.

 

So, here they are.

 

The silence between them is broken all of a sudden by a horribly loud noise, and the elevator stops, jerking a little in its place.  The music stops, and they’re surrounded by dead silence for a moment, until David moves forward and starts wildly pushing buttons. “Why are none of these working!” his voice is filled with panic as he looks at his companion.  None of the buttons are even lighting up.  

 

“It’s broken, looks like,” Patrick mutters, and he kneels down and pulls the red emergency button as David hovers over, watching.

 

Seconds later, the building manager’s voice fills the small space.  “Looks like you guys are stuck between floors. I have to call the company.  I’ll let you know when I get a time estimate. Stay calm.” There’s a click, and then silence.

  
Small, enclosed spaces are David’s nightmare.   

  
“How are we supposed to stay calm when we’re trapped in a broken elevator with no escape in sight?”  David’s almost shrieking. He can’t breathe. He forgot how to breathe. How does one breathe? It used to seem so simple, just moments ago.  He sinks to the ground, hyperventilating.

 

Patrick kneels down in front of him, putting a hand on one of his knees, and it’s kind of annoying how calm he is, but sadly it doesn’t make him any less attractive.  “They’re going to get us out. I promise. This happens. Not often, but it happens.”

 

David just stares at him for a second.  “Anything could happen, and we’d be stuck here with no escape.  A fire could start, and there would be nowhere for us to go.”

 

“There won't be any fires.  I promise.”

 

David eyes him, warily.  “You’re making a lot of promises.”

 

Patrick smiles.  He sits on the floor, cross legged in front of David.  “I’m good for them.”

 

He sounds so sure, David almost believes him.

 

It’s then that the speaker clicks on, and the building manager’s voice returns.  “Alright you two, I just got off the phone with the elevator company and it’s going to be a couple of hours, but they will be here as soon as they can.  They got a couple of calls before us.”

 

“A _couple_ of calls?  How many elevator issues can one company have in an area?”  David gets to his feet, and starts pacing, which is a useless endeavor since he can go only two or three steps in any direction, but it doesn’t stop him from trying.  “I’m going to sue this company when I get out of here.”

 

He can feel the panic rising with each turn he makes, but he doesn’t know how to stop.

 

Patrick stands up and stops him with a light hand on his shoulder, and turns David so he can face him.  

  
“There’s got to be another way out,” David says, looking up, and around, frantically.  
  
“There isn’t,” Patrick takes David’s hand, and pulls lightly, guiding him to the floor. “We just have to wait.”

“I don’t like this,”  David whispers, and he really shouldn’t let himself be this weak in front of a virtual stranger, but he can’t help it.  

 

“I know,”  Patrick says quietly.  He keeps hold of David’s hand, while pulling his phone out of his pocket with his free one.  “What we need is a distraction. How do you feel about karaoke? I have a few playlists from a party at my cousin’s house last week..”

 

David shakes his head.  “Hate it. Last time I went to a karaoke night some tune-deaf guy I don’t even know sang ‘ _I Will Always Love You’_ while staring right at me, and I still haven’t recovered.”

 

Amusement flickers across Patrick’s face.  “Okay. How about games? I just downloaded RBI Baseball.”

 

“I don’t do sports,” David says, but he takes Patrick’s phone with a sigh, because it’s _something_.

 

Ten minutes later and David’s completely invested.  

  
Patrick’s watching closely over his shoulder, lightly pressing into his side, and David doesn’t know if it’s the feeling of how close they are or the distraction of the game, but something’s got him breathing again.

 

“Shit!”  David yells, staring in annoyance at the screen.  “I thought I had that home run.”

 

“You know, for someone who doesn’t do sports, you’re getting really into this,” Patrick’s voice is smug and David can feel his breath on his ear while he speaks.  

 

It’s distracting him, and he needs focus.

 

“Shhh,” David smacks Patrick’s arm lightly to quiet him, but then he looks to Patrick to see if maybe that move was a little too familiar, and he’s surprised by the fond look on his face.

 

\---

 

An hour later finds them both laying next to each other on the floor, staring at the ceiling.  They’ve both played the game twice, and still nothing around them is moving, so they’ve started asking each other random questions.

 

“So your life is basically project runway,”  Patrick says, as he scrolls through an album of David’s designs.  “These are really cool!”

 

“I guess it’s kind of like that, except no one is filming me, and there’s no Tim Gunn telling me that my designs are great before a panel picks them apart -- instead I get to suffer in anxiety as people wearing heels that cost more than my car pick out one thing they think isn’t complete garbage out of the thirty I’ve come up with.”

 

“Sounds rough.”  Patrick hands David his phone back, and their hands brush, and _yeah_ , there’s a spark.

 

He wants to take Patrick’s hand again, even though he’s not afraid anymore, so his excuse is gone.

 

It’s then that David’s phone starts ringing.  He sits up when he sees the name on the screen, and puts it to his ear.

 

“Where the hell are you?”  Stevie’s been told a hundred times to watch her language while working reception, but she never listens.  He loves that about her.

 

“Stuck on the broken elevator in my apartment building.”

 

“For real?  That’s hilarious.”

“Your concern is overwhelming.”

 

“Are you alone?”

 

“No…”

 

“Ohh is cute elevator guy there?”  

 

David prays to anything he can think of that Patrick didn’t hear that, while cursing Stevie, silently. “Nope!  See you later.”

 

“Ohhh he totally is!  Maybe now you’ll finally get some balls and ask him out-” she gets the last words in just as he’s hanging up.

 

He hates her.

 

“Friend from work,” he says, as he drops down to the floor once more.

 

“Cool,” Patrick says, and he’s smiling, but there’s no way he heard anything.

 

No way.

 

He decides to take a risk, and takes Patrick’s hand that’s between them.  Patrick winds their fingers together, and something in David's heart skips.

 

They don’t talk about it.  

  
“So you really haven’t seen any Sandra Bullock movies?” David is still hung up on this fact, revealed minutes ago.  

 

“Not a single one.”

 

“That’s a definite character flaw.”

 

Patrick laughs.  “Sorry you didn’t get stuck in an elevator with someone who was well versed in her entire catalogue.”

 

David grins, even if Patrick’s not looking  to see it. “It’s not an unfixable flaw.”

 

\---

 

Twenty minutes later, the music comes back on and the elevator jerks to a start, propelling them downwards, and they both stand up, and this is what David wanted to happen so badly, but there’s a part of him that feels like he wouldn’t have minded living in this reality for a while longer.

 

They exit, together, and David turns to Patrick.  “Okay, bye, it was nice talking to you. Um, thanks for everything,”  He feels unsure of himself now that they’re out in the open and he doesn’t really know where this goes from here.  

 

“It was nice talking to you too, David.”

 

David nods awkwardly and turns and starts walking, but Patrick catches up to him and touches his arm to stop him from moving before he can get far.  David’s late for a design meeting and his boss is probably going to kill him, but he doesn’t even care.

 

“David, I’m kind of glad we got stuck in that elevator.”

 

David just looks at him, bemused.

 

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you, for a while now.”

 

His heart is beating too fast, and he wonders if Patrick can hear it.

 

“Are you busy tonight?  Want to go to dinner?” Patrick searches David’s face, looking for an answer, and his expression is so full of hope.  People don’t usually ask David out like this, so sweet and full of charm.

 

David smiles, and nods.  “I’d like that.”

 

“Okay, great.”  Patrick grins, and holds his hand out for David’s phone, putting his number in, and adding a string of emojis at the end of his name that David will have to decipher later.  “You know, I heard there’s a restaurant around here on the twentieth floor of a tower, and the elevator is the only way up.”

 

David grimaces as he takes his phone back.  “I’ll amend my acceptance to say, I’ll go if we go somewhere that only has one floor.  My life is going to be elevator-free for the foreseeable future.”

 

Patrick nods.  “I can work with that.”  He steps a little closer, so close they’re almost touching.  “I was going to wait til after to do this, but I don’t really want to wait.”  He looks to David’s lips and then his eyes and waits there, like he’s asking for permission.  People don’t usually ask David for permission: they just come on, hard and fast.

 

It’s David, in the end, who breaks the distance.  He kisses Patrick slow and soft, and then Patrick’s hands come up and hold the side of his face, tilting his head and pressing their lips harder together, and _wow_ , they were wasting time for all these weeks if this is what they could have been doing.

 

When they pull apart, he looks at Patrick, considering.  “When you said you’d wanted to ask me something a while ago, how long ago were you talking?”

 

Patrick considers this for a second, playing with the collar of David’s shirt.  People are coming and going around them, but neither of them are paying any attention.  “Remember the day you dropped your coffee on my shoes?”

  
David looks at him, surprised.  “That was three months ago,” That was the first time they saw each other.

 

He’s been holding onto the embarrassment of that moment for three months too long.

 

“Mhmm,” Patrick smiles, and when they walk towards the entrance, for the first time David knows he’s not going to have to wait til tomorrow to see him, and he’s not going to have to think about making a move any longer, because they’re already on the way to something.  

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @davidrosed!


End file.
